Unique Experiences

Item Description

Lunch or Dinner with Ila France Porcher — Shark Ethologist, Artist & Author — in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada

Ila France Porcher is a self-taught, published shark ethologist. She is known for her new discoveries of the intelligence and social nature of sharks and her efforts to protect these misunderstood animals from being massacred by the shark finning racket.

She began her career as a Canadian wildlife artist, and over time began to document the behavior of wild animals she observed and painted. She was especially intrigued by actions suggesting intelligence and cognition.

When she move to Polynesia in 1995, she investigated the local wildlife and focused on sharks since they were the first wild animals who came to her instead of fleeing. The behavior of blackfin reef sharks was so fascinating that she launched an intensive study of them, systematically observing and recording their behavior.

Over many years and later with the guidance of world class marine biologist Dr. Arthur A. Myrberg Jr., of the University of Miami, she learned to interpret their actions and found some of the first evidence of thinking (cognition) in sharks. Part of her study was subsequently published in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Biology. But Ila was moved to write down their story after most of her beloved sharks were killed for their fins to be processed into soup! Her tribute to these magnificent creatures is entitled "My Sunset Rendezvous: Crisis in Tahiti".

Item Special Note

Being auctioned is dinner or lunch with one the world’s foremost shark experts or celebrities. It is a unique opportunity to “talk shark” face-to-face, one-on-one, with a real authority on sharks. 

How it works:

1. Bid on a celebrity, shark scientist or conservationist that lives or works in your area, unless you are willing to drive or fly to meet them in their area.

2. The winning bidder pays for the lunch or dinner and may bring as many guests as he or she wishes.

3. We will introduce the winning bidder to the celebrity, scientist or conservationist. The two of you then set a mutually agreeable  date, time and place to meet within one year of the close of the auction.

All winning bids are charitable contributions deductible from US Federal 2013 income taxes.  Funds raised by the auction will be used to support shark research and conservation programs.